Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 5.djvu/157

 THE

��GRANITE MONTHLY,

A NEW HAMPSHIRE MAGAZINE,

Devoted to Literature, Biography, History, and State Progress.

YoL.Y. FEBKUARY, 1882. ^o. 5.

��RUEL DURKEE.

��BY WILLIAM E. CHANDLER.

RUEL DURKEE, is the son of Rufus Durkee, whose father was Robert Durkee of Brimfield, Connecticut. His mother was Polly, daughter of Thomas Whipple, who was the son of Moses Whipple, of whom, as an ances- tor, any American citizen might well be proud.

Moses Whipple, son of Jacob Whipple, and a descendant in the fifth genera- tion from Matthew Whipple, who settled in Ipswich, Mass., in 1635, was born in Grafton, Mass., in 1 733, but came to the wilderness of Croydon, one of the three earliest settlers, in 1766, with his four children, Thomas, Aaron, Moses and Jerusha. He was an ardent patriot ; chairman of the committee of safety, captain of militia companies present at the surrender of Ticonderoga in June, 1777, and with Col. Chase's regiment, October 17, 1777, at Bur- goyne's surrender. At the close of the war he became Colonel of the fifteenth regiment of militia. Of good education, great energy, and a natural leader of men, he became the '-father of the town ;" held at different times all the town offices ; was deacon of the church for thirty years ; and was the dominating spirit of the community, until he moved to Charlestown, N. H., in 1809, where he died in 1814. His grand-daughter Polly, inherited his remarkable traits, and to her, Ruel Durkee largely owes those elements of character which have made his also the influential mind, not only in Croydon, but in so many circles in which he has lived, advised, and acted. The character and influence of this mother, more perhaps than his own exertions, gave him his cool brain, sound judgment, and indomitable firmness and force.

HIS LONG SERVICE AS SELECTMAN.

The test both of character and capacity in a New Hampshire country town, is service as Selectman. No man of integrity, ability and force, fails at some time to hold that office. No man can be chairman of the Board for a long series of years, unless he combines more honesty, patience, coolness, sense, and executive ability, than any other man in the town. Others may excel him in some of these requisites ; he excels them in the combination of all these qualities. Thus measured, Ruel Durkee has the highest testimonials which those who have known him best and longest, can give him. He was elected selectman as early as 1842 ; he soon became chairman, and with possibly the exception of a year or two near the beginning of his terms, he has served as

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